Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is my most favorite novel in the entire world. I read this book when I was about 12 and knew at that moment that I wanted to be a writer. It has taken many years and detours to realizing that dream but I can say, thank God, I am about 75% done with my first book.
But I need some inspiration.
From time to time I reread Their Eyes just to get lost in the beauty of the prose. I want my book to have that same engrossing quality. These are the opening lines of Zora’s book:
"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they are forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men."
Wow. Every time I read those lines I get a different revelation. As a child I could not quite grasp the depth of meaning of the phrase but I have kept pondering it all of these years.
I know so many people with AMAZING gifts but they don’t do much with them. IMO. It’s always, if and when, but never now.
Live your dreams guys, the rest is a waste of time.
P.S. What inspires you?
Talula,
I recently saw a documentary about Zola Neale Hurston. She reminded me of myself, sort of the wanderer going against the grain. She studied anthropology which one of my professors in college encouraged me to go into, since I had done so well in her class that was an elective. At that point in time, there were no African-American students in that department. Later, my first real boyfriend who was from Somalia worked on his Ph.D. there.
I just finished reading a book called Life Directions, by Jane Kise and David Stark. It’s a Christian book. The book basically says that the dreams and itchings we have to do great things or follow our dreams are placed in us by God. If we do not act on them, we will always feel a little empty or that something is missing in our lives. Also the book stresses that those who feel they have no talents or gifts must ask God to show them what their gifts are. Often our dreams show what is our real purpose in life. If the dreams are positive and go according to Scripture, they emanate from God. A follow up to the Life Directions is Life Keys which is by the same two authors. They recommend that once you read Life Directions, the next step is to do Life Keys. I just began Life Keys. It has a main book and a workbook that can be done solo or in a group.
Are you really near to completing a book? Great! I have started two, but have not finished them. I really want to complete my autobiography, since my story is quite unique. I hope I can inspire and encourage someone. Two published writers have encouraged me to write. They have encouraged me; completing the task just takes courage.
What inspires me? World history and the great people who made a difference for the better. Art inspires me. Music.
From a Christian perspective my most favorite and inspiring heros of the faith are Queen Esther, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Jeremiah, Elijah, Paul, and the greatest hero of all time and ultimate role model, Jesus. Did you know the Apostle Paul’s (Saul’s) hometown of Tarsus is in Turkey? See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsus_(city)
And here in this post by a Turkish blogger:
http://nihalcrossroads.blogspot.com/2008/06/pauline-year.html
History must be important to God too because 13 of the books of the Bible are categorized as historical books. Twelve are in the OT and one, the Books of Acts, is in the NT.
The sea inspires me too. I love Istanbul because the city is cut in half by the Bosphorus Strait and is bordered by two seas, the Black Sea to the north and the Sea of Marmara to the south.
Sea gulls remind me of angels for some strange reason. They inspire me too. They come inland and soar over the buildings in Istanbul and far inland.
Mountains. Turkey is very mountenous.
Ancient ruins and old buildings. Turkey is littered with ancient ruins buildings and monuments, but because of lack of money the Turks cannot maintain them very well. The country has more ancient and old buildings than even the whole of Europe. Turkey is also the home of the early church. Many places where Paul traveled and mentioned are in what is now Turkey. Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus (the Book of Ephesians). Ephesus is in Turkey. It is one of the world’s best preserved ancient cities:
http://www.bibleplaces.com/ephesus.htm
All of the Seven Churches of Asia mentioned in Revelation are all in Turkey. I have been to all seven sites.
The harvest moon. I have only seen one once in person, and when I saw it, I couldn’t understand why the moon was so huge that night.
Last but not least, great books and stories.
Those are the things that inspire me:)
Thank you Sincerae:
I can always count on you for a comment that enlightening and thought provoking.
TZA